Philippine Airlines files petition for $5 passenger security fee

MANILA, Philippines — Flag carrier Philippine Airlines (PAL) has filed a petition with the Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB) to impose a passenger security fee on passengers bound for the United States.

In a notice of hearing by the CAB published in The STAR yesterday, PAL is petitioning for a passenger security fee of $5.

The CAB said the hearing of the petition is scheduled on Oct. 19 at 10 a.m. at the CAB Conference Room, Pasay City. The notice was signed last Oct. 3 by hearing officer Maria Elbensl Moro.

Under Section 16 of Republic Act 776, the applicant is required to have the notice of hearing published at least once, two weeks before the scheduled hearing in a broadsheet newspaper of national circulation.

PAL has not released a statement on the reason for the petition.

In December, PAL and sister carrier PAL Express filed a petition with the CAB to impose fuel surcharge worth P51 to P207 to recover higher fuel cost.

Last month, the CAB approved the guidelines on the imposition of the passenger fuel surcharge for domestic and international flights.

Domestic air fares can see an additional cost of as much as P769 while international flights can see as much as P9,860 in additional costs.

PAL and Cebu Pacific said they have started imposing the fuel surcharge, which was included in the price of tickets.

The CAB also adopted a matrix for fuel surchage that will be determined based on the two-month average of jet fuel MOPS (Mean of Platts Singapore) prices in its peso per liter equivalent and will be fixed for two months. 

If the two-month price average of jet fuel per liter falls below P21, no fuel surcharge will be collected, said the CAB Resolution 44.

Earlier this year, PAL president and chief operating officer Jaime Bautista said the approval of PAL petition to impose fuel surcharge would be crucial in achieving profit this year.

Parent firm PAL Holdings Inc. ended last year with a net loss of P6.47 billion from a net income of P4.93 billion in 2016 amid higher expenses.

Last year, PAL carried 14.5 million passengers and targets to serve 17 million passengers this year.